Agri-Business Incubation Centre of ICAR-National Research Centre on Pig, Guwahati Inaugurated

Dr. Trilochan Mohapatra, Secretary (DARE) & Director General (ICAR) inaugurated the Agri-Business Incubation (ABI) Centre of ICAR-National Research Centre on Pig, Guwahati. He also unveiled the rural pig slaughter house technology. The technology offers the meat handlers in the rural areas to perform off- floor dressing operations to ensure better hygienic status for the final produce as per guidelines of Food Safety and Standards Authority of India at an affordable cost.

Five technology transfer agreements were also signed with four entrepreneurs namely, M/s Arohan Foods Pvt. Ltd, Guwahati; M/s Symbiotic Foods Pvt. Ltd, Tezpur; M/s Sayuri Farms, Guwahati and M/s Amora Foods, Guwahati.

The technology transfer agreements are envisaged to provide the necessary support for validation and up-scaling of technologies and encourage their reach to the user as an attractive business proposition. The agreement also focuses on incubation and business development programme, including entrepreneurship skill development activities in the areas of commercial piggery; allied service sectors and value addition in pork by finding doors to unexplored markets.

Through these agreements, the ABI Centre is intended to help prospective entrepreneurs, by providing pro-active and value-added business support in terms of technical consultancy, infrastructure facility, experts’ guidance and training to develop technology based business ideas and establish sustainable enterprises.

In his address, Dr. Mohapatra stressed the immediate need for putting in place the safety, biosafety, quality standards, packaging and traceability to improve the production and productivity and thereby not only to meet the requirement of North  Eastern Region, where huge gap exist in demand and supply, but also the export.

He congratulated the entrepreneurs for coming forward to associate with ICAR and stressed the fact that working together will be a win-win situation for all. He also mentioned that at every step in the piggery value chain there exist a gap and thus plenty of business opportunities for the entrepreneurs to address and wished very best to all the entrepreneurs to thrive the initial hiccups and to find means to resolve them and move forward. While concluding, Dr. Mohapatra asserted that the slogan for every ABI shall be “Chain for gain – value chain for maximum gain for every player”.

During the visit, Mohapatra, along with other dignitaries also inaugurated the climate chamber established in the Institute to conduct animal experiments.

Earlier, Dr. Swaraj Rajkhowa, Director, ICAR-National Research Centre on Pig, in his welcome address briefed about the prime objectives of ABI Centre of the institute.

Dr. Joykrushna Jena, Deputy Director General (Animal Science); Dr. A.K.Singh, Deputy Director General (Agricultural Extension); Dr. K. Alagusundaram, Deputy Director General (Agricultural Engineering); Dr. R.C. Agrawal,  Deputy Director General (Agricultural Education); Dr. Moirangthem Premjit Singh, Vice Chancellor, Central Agricultural University, Imphal graced the occasion.